Tag: Alex Leatherwood

Bears salary cap: Breakdown of 2023 dead cap after roster cuts

Here’s a look at how the $30.3 million in dead money breaks down for the Bears after roster cuts.

The Chicago Bears made a slew of roster moves as they assembled their 53-man roster heading into the 2023 NFL season.

That included some difficult cuts, which featured some prominent names in quarterback P.J. Walker and offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood, who both added some dead money to the 2023 salary cap.

According to Over The Cap, the Bears have $30.31 million in dead money for the 2022 season, which ranks 22nd in the NFL. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($76.76 million) and Los Angeles Rams ($74.97 million) have the most dead money in the league.

Here is a look at the 14 players who are responsible for the team’s dead money. (All figures are from Over The Cap).

Former first-round pick Alex Leatherwood signed to Cleveland Browns practice squad

Former Alabama offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood signed with the Cleveland Browns practice squad on Wednesday. Leatherwood was released by the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

It has been a rough two years for former Alabama offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood. The Florida native was waived by the Las Vegas Raiders prior to the start of the 2022 season. Then, he was released by the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Three days later, the Cleveland Browns signed the former first-round pick to the practice squad.

Leatherwood will join a Browns team that finished last season with a 7-10 record. He will reunite with former Alabama teammate and current Browns offensive tackle Jedrick Wills. The two were both a part of Alabama’s 2017 signing class.

Leatherwood won the Outland Trophy Award during his senior season at Alabama. The award recognizes the best interior offensive lineman in college football. While Leatherwood has not lived up to the hype, he will have another opportunity to prove himself in Cleveland. It will interesting to see if he takes advantage and capitalizes on the opportunity at hand.

 

Browns add former first round pick Alex Leatherwood to the practice squad

The Browns add a former 2021 NFL draft first rounder to their practice squad

As the Cleveland Browns continue to fill their practice squad, an interesting name has come aboard. Former first round pick and offensive lineman of the Las Vegas Raiders, Alex Leatherwood, has signed with the Browns’ reserves after his release from the Chicago Bears.

A member of the 2021 Alabama Crimson Tide team that won the national championship, the dreadful Mike Mayock/Jon Gruden era Raiders selected Leatherwood with the 17th overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. He lasted just one season after a horrible start to his career and after the clearing of house of the regime that drafted him.

He was then claimed by the Bears, but again, only lasted one season there as well and he was a victim of their cutdowns on Tuesday.

A former Outland Award winner (college football’s best trench player), however, Leatherwood is still just 24 years old and now gets the chance to reunite with college teammate Jedrick Wills under the guidance of one of the best in the business in Bill Callahan.

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Revisiting the Bears’ 2022 roster cutdown waiver claims

The Bears will be all over the waiver wire this week when cuts are made, but how did last year’s moves fare?

In just a matter of hours, the Chicago Bears and the rest of the NFL teams will whittle their rosters down to 53 players as they prepare for the regular season. That will leave hundreds of NFL athletes without a team, and they’ll hit the waiver wire with an opportunity to be picked up by a new one. When they do, the Bears will be waiting as they have first dibs at the top of the waiver order.

Just like they had the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft thanks to having the worst record in the league, the Bears also have the first waiver spot and will keep it until Week 3 of the regular season concludes. Then, waivers will be determined by the current league records, with the worst team getting the first spot.

Last year, the Bears had the seventh spot, but that didn’t stop general manager Ryan Poles from putting in quite a few claims for players. In 2022, the Bears led the league with six waiver claims on the first day (seven in total). Will Poles top that number this year as he looks to strengthen the roster?

Before we dive into possible waiver claims for this year, let’s look back to see how the 2022 waiver claims fared throughout the season.

Chicago Bears release former first-round pick, Alabama OT Alex Leatherwood

The Chicago Bears released former Alabama offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood on Sunday evening. Leatherwood spent one season with the Bears.

The Chicago Bears released former Alabama offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood on Sunday evening.

In the NFL, teams must trim their roster from 90 to 53 by Aug. 29 at 4 p.m. ET.

Leatherwood was on the wrong side of the cuts made on Sunday. He has seen struggles throughout his professional career. The Florida native spent his rookie year with the Las Vegas Raiders. He played in 17 games before being waived by the Raiders front office.

He was claimed off of waivers one day later by the Bears. Leatherwood played in four games during the 2022 season. Now, he is on the waiver wire looking for his third team in as many years. Needless to say, Leatherwood needs a fresh start to revitalize his professional career. The Bears gave him that on Sunday.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow former Alabama players in the NFL.

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Bear Necessities: P.J. Walker, Alex Leatherwood surprise roster cuts

The Bears had a couple of surprise roster cuts in P.J. Walker and Alex Leatherwood. We recap Sunday’s headlines.

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What’s the latest with the Chicago Bears?

The Bears have started to trim their roster to 53 players, and that included a couple of surprise cuts on Sunday night — quarterback P.J. Walker and offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood.

Here’s a look at the most recent and relevant Bears stories for the morning of Aug. 28.

Bears Twitter reacts to the release of OL Alex Leatherwood

Bears fans were somewhat surprised to see the team move on from Alex Leatherwood.

Another Chicago Bear is hitting the market ahead of Tuesday’s roster cutdown deadline. The Bears announced they are waiving offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport was first with the news. Leatherwood was drafted with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders as the team’s future right tackle. He struggled mightily throughout his rookie season, and a poor 2022 preseason led to his release from the Raiders.

The Bears put in a claim for Leatherwood, hoping to get something out of the former Alabama standout, but he missed the first half of the season due to mononucleosis. He saw action in just four games near the end of the season, with mixed results. Leatherwood spent much of the 2023 offseason at guard and had moments during the preseason, but not enough to guarantee a spot on the 53-man roster. Leatherwood, who carries a $4.5 million dead cap hit, will now look for his third team in as many seasons. The news came on the heels of the Bears releasing backup quarterback P.J. Walker.

Given the Bears have question marks on the offensive line with Teven Jenkins out for multiple weeks and Nate Davis missing much of camp, seeing Leatherwood cut has Bears fans somewhat surprised. Here is how Bears Twitter reacted to the move.

Bears are releasing OL Alex Leatherwood

The surprise roster cuts just keep on coming for the Bears. Alex Leatherwood has been released.

The surprising roster cuts just keep on coming with the Chicago Bears.

After parting ways with quarterback P.J. Walker, who was expected to serve as Justin Fields’ backup, the Bears are releasing former first-round offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Chicago claimed Leatherwood, who was cut by the Las Vegas Raiders after just one season, off waivers just last summer. Leatherwood was considered a project for general manager Ryan Poles, but it appears to be another failed experiment that Poles doesn’t mind admitting went wrong.

Leatherwood appeared in four games last season, where he played 34 snaps. After claiming Leatherwood off waivers last summer, the Bears still owe him $4.59 million guaranteed.

Leatherwood had been working at left guard this summer behind starter Teven Jenkins. Leatherwood had showed some potential after moving to guard, but Ja’Tyre Carter was impressive at right guard, which could’ve factored into the decision.

Offensive line depth remains a huge concern for the Bears, who have struggled with injuries to their starters, and you have to believe the team will be on the look out for an interior lineman on the waiver wire. And the fact that they have the top spot on the waiver wire means they’ll have first choice.

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Report: Bears G Teven Jenkins could miss multiple weeks with leg injury

According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, Teven Jenkins could be out up to 6 weeks.

The offensive line for the Chicago Bears may have just taken a big hit as they prepare for the start of the regular season. On Sunday evening, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reported Bears guard Teven Jenkins is dealing with a leg injury that could cause him to miss multiple weeks. Biggs reports the injury may keep Jenkins out up to six weeks, leading the third-year offensive lineman to miss time through September.

The Bears have been mum on most of their injuries up to this point with head coach Matt Eberflus saying they’re minor. Jenkins would be the first starter to have an issue that crept into the regular season. But the timing is interesting to say the least.

Jenkins started last week’s preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans and departed with no issues along with the rest of the offensive starters. He participated in joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts this past week and even spoke with the media on Thursday. In fact, Jenkins commented on his durability and how he believed he was feeling positive about his body going into the season.

“It hopefully shows signs of my wanted durability of myself for the rest of the season,” Jenkins said on Thursday via Adam Hoge of CHGO. “So as long as I’m staying out here right now through training camp, hopefully it shows positive signs for the rest of the year.”

Jenkins did not play in Saturday’s 24-17 preseason loss to the Colts, but neither did any of the offensive starters. The only training camp practices missed by Jenkins occurred when he left the field on August 2nd with a trainer and missed one full day. He was back by August 5th.

If Jenkins in fact misses time, the Bears would likely start either Ja’Tyre Carter or Alex Leatherwood at this point. They could also opt to bring in a veteran guard like Dalton Risner or see who becomes available on the waiver wire when rosters are trimmed in a couple weeks. Regardless, they will need to hone in on a backup plan. The Bears could opt to place Jenkins on injured reserve when rosters are finalized, but he would need to be out for a minimum of four games. Otherwise, he would take up a roster spot until he was healthy.

The injury bug isn’t new for Jenkins, unfortunately. After former general manager Ryan Pace traded up in the 2021 NFL Draft to select him in the second round as the team’s future left tackle, Jenkins missed 11 games his rookie year with a back injury. In 2022 after moving to right guard, he was in and out of the lineup with various ailments, but missed time late in the season after he suffered a scary neck injury. He’s played in 19 of a possible 34 games to start his career.

The Bears are counting on Jenkins as an anchor on the interior offensive line for the upcoming season. He moved to left guard this offseason following the signing of Nate Davis and has proved to be a solid option when healthy. Now with yet another injury, one has to wonder if he’s in the team’s long-term plans.

10 Bears players to watch on Saturday vs. Colts

Here are 10 Bears players to keep an eye on when they take on the Indianapolis Colts this weekend.

Preseason game No. 2 is on deck for the Chicago Bears this weekend as they prepare to take on the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. This week’s squad will look a bit different than the one that took down the Tennessee Titans 23-17 last weekend, however.

According to head coach Matt Eberflus, quarterback Justin Fields and a few other select starters will not suit up,  The Bears coaching staff believes Fields and others put in plenty of work this week when they held two joint practices with the Colts at their facilities in Westfield, IN.

Even with some of the starters out, there are still many intriguing players worth watching as the Bears look to solidify their team. Many backups and reserves will receive more playing time as a result of Eberflus’ decision, which will help determine the back half of the roster as the regular season inches closer.

Here are 10 players we’ll be watching when the Bears and Colts kick off on Saturday evening at 6 pm CT.